Yukon bush life

Can’t go to work? Not able to see friends or family, or get to the shops? Add in some sub-arctic scenery and you’re living our life. Welcome! So, what do you do when modern life is suddenly upended? Made this scary-looking chair cover out of caribou hide scraps How about tanning that caribou hide that’s been sitting there since January? Weather’s warming so you’ll be pleased if you butcher the rest of your meat now and get it in the canner before it thaws. Spring-time "freezer." Digging a crate of caribou meat out of a snow bank. Got a pile of logs sitting in the yard? Don’t wait til you need more firewood. Buck and split them now. Make a neat stack for next winter. Write a blog about it! Remote living. Our house is in the middle of this picture Most people live in a little house or flat somewhere urban or semi-urban, just like we used to, and so any advice I can give you is just plain fucking weird. Weird dinners. Caribou tongue Bu...

The Yukon is unfolding into springtime. It was -35C this morning but there is light in the sky when I wake at 7. Only a few weeks ago it was pitch black until 10am but we gain 7 minutes of light each day. The change is so fast it spins you off balance and soon, instead of falling asleep once I’ve eaten dinner, I will have “evenings.” What to do with them? Suicide or domestic violence, there’s two options. I recently learned that whilst many people threaten self-harm or abuse in mid-winter, they lack the energy. They don’t get round to it ‘til spring. 10am here this morning, sundog rainbow over the river However, Neil is working away for 10 days so there is no one to thump and I’m feeling too cheerful for suicide. I’m basking in a sense of fulfilment at having taken a 470 mile journey through the vast and empty Yukon wilderness to visit the world’s most remote launderette. Despite the fact we forgot our laundry. We made our voyage to Circle, ...